[아이뉴스24 정종오 기자] Can we find traces of life on the ‘red planet’ Mars? Will the optimal place for human beings to settle until they reach Mars in the 2030s will be identified?
Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) detailed the specific activities of the lander Perseverance, which arrived on Mars in February 2021. Perseverance has announced that it has reached the river delta of Jezero Crater. It was announced that it was put into the second scientific mission.
Perseverance is on a mission to find traces of life along the dried up rivers of Mars. Percy Beerance collected eight rock core samples on his first scientific mission. In cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA), the sample will be sent to Mars in the future to secure a sealed sample and bring it to Earth.
Then, crossing about 5 km, we arrived at the entrance to the crater of Examplero.
“As an example, the crater delta is the best place to look for traces of life on Mars from a geological point of view,” said Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA PhD. We are preparing to find the answer,” he said.
There is a reason the persistence team paid attention to this place. The delta was formed billions of years ago at the junction of Martian rivers and crater lakes. For example, it is a huge fan on the western edge of the crater. It is a collection of rocks and sediments. It is believed that ancient microbial life has been preserved from long-term sediments.
“For a year exploring the bottom of the crater, Perseverance has been observing the delta here,” said Ken Farley, a Perseverance Project scientist at the California Institute of Technology. It is said that Perseverance, which arrived on Mars in February of last year, has undergone thorough preparations to explore the delta.
Dr. Parley also explained his plans for the future. He said he would look for traces of ancient life in the rocks at the foot of the delta, plus explore rocks that were once thought to be the mud at the bottom of the ‘Lake as an example’.
Perseverance arrived at the location a month earlier than expected. This is thanks to the advanced features built into Perseverance. Perseverance can autonomously judge sand pits, craters, rocks and sharp rock formations. With artificial intelligence-assisted, auto-discovery capabilities, Perseverance can analyze tens of thousands of images as you move to determine where to stop and rotate in place.
Mars exploration, which has been going on for decades, is now approaching a place to find traces of life.
Meanwhile, Perseverance has recently taken a high-definition eclipse of the Martian moon Phobos passing in front of the sun and transmitted it to Earth. A total solar eclipse does not occur on Mars, where the moon completely covers the sun as on Earth. This is because the diameter of Phobos is only tens of kilometers.
Phobos is said to be moving closer to Mars. It is doomed to collide with Mars within tens of millions of years. Mars experts are analyzing the fate of Phobos through observations of solar eclipses observed on the surface of Mars over the past 20 years.
<!–
–>